I am somewhat proud to say that I hail from Hull - Kingston Upon Hull - to be precise. A rather poorly known city on the North East coast of England. It's not the prettiest city by any means and the local accent isn't that pleasant either (I'm a marked man because that accent gives my roots away when in the UK despite having not actually lived in Hull for 20+ years). But, it's surrounded by some of the prettiest countryside you can find and, these days, has a lot more going for it than it once did. People from Hull get used to puns on the name like the one I used in the title of this post and we have also got used to clever media types thinking the were the first to title an article "to hull and back". There is also that old saying - "Hull, Hell and Huddersfield" OK - something like that anyway.

So what am I wittering on about?

Hull City AFC that's what - The TIGERS. 104 years of professional soccer and never in the Premier league. The biggest city in England never to have had a premier league team.

I've been following the Tigers since I was a lad. I used to go to home games at Boothferry Park in the 60's. Back then, you could as a kid sit on the concrete wall surrounding the field - awesome. When I moved to the US, I followed the Tigers on the Internet resolutely checking in each week even as they languished at the bottom end of the old 4th Division.

I remember taking a French penfriend to a game back in the late 70's. They showed up that day the Tigers did and we won 3-0. I don't recall who we played but I do recall Jean Luc stating that City could play in the French first division based on what he had seen... pride indeed.

So here we are. 4 games to go. 5th in the Chamionship. 6 wins in 8 outings including thrashing Watford and beating WBA away from home. A new stadium, a new owner and a new manager. Is this it. Is this what we have all been waiting for? Will HULL finally play in the premier league?

Who knows. But I will be glued to my PC tomorrow night and then for the remaining two games with my fingers crossed that finally Hull will be on the soccer landscape and never again will someone ask Hull? Who are they?

Come on you Tigers - we are going up...... and its been a hull of a season so far.